Bonded surface layer and method of forming it



Patented Oct. 31, E939 2,178,358 BONDED SURFACE LAYER. AND METHODOF ED FORMING IT 1 Arthur M. Howaldand Leonard S. Meyer, Toledo,

ware

No Drawing.

4 Claims.

This invention relates to surface layers, and particularly to surface layers for types of composite board that are made of fibrous material impregnated with resinous binders.

imperfections resulting from wrinkling or tear- Ohio, assignors to Plaskon Company, Incorporated, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Dela- Application February 17, 1937, Serial No. 126,254

ing of the surfacesheets during pressing operations, and it is practically impossible to make the bond between the surface sheet and the body of the board effective enough to insure against JUL 28 1942 5 Such types of composite board-are used for cabsplitting or peeling away of the surface sheet 5 inet work and wall paneling and it is desirable under the influence of changes in atmospheric that they have good mechanical strength, that conditions. they be free of ,any tendency to warp, and that The product of our invention retains the good their surfaces be resistant to the action of moisfeatures of phenolic and natural resin impregture, as well as to the action of acids, alkalis, and hated structures, and imparts to such structures 10 solvents. the highly desirable finish and coloring of formal-/ Composite board of adequate strength can be dehyde-urea impregnated materials without produced by hot pressing fiber impregnated with causing any tendency to warpage or surface-sheet natural resins or with phenolic resins, and such separation, and achieves these advantages with board is comparatively free of any tendency to greater economy of manufacture than is possible 15 warp and is satisfactorily resistant to the action when formaldehyde-urea impregnated paper of moisture, solvents, and active chemicals. Besheets are incorporated with bodies that are imcause of the yellowish or brownish color of the pregnated with other resins. resins used as binders, however, such board can In the first step of the process of our inven-' be made only in dark or yellowish shades, even tion, urea is dissolved in formalin, the molecular though white fibrous filler be used. Also, it is proportions of formaldehyde to urea preferably liable to discolor under the influence of light. being about 1.5 mols of formaldehyde to 1 mol of For some purposes, paneling of light shade or urea, though other ratios ranging from 1.1:1'to brilliant coloring-is highly desirable. Such panel- 2:1 may be used. The pH of the solution is a ing can be produced by impregnating white or justed to astandard value near neutrality-and the g5 suitably colored sheets of paper with colorless solution is allowed to stand while an addition I 9 pp p y Colored dehyde-urea resin reaction between the urea and formaldehyde and the o p e P s of Such sheets. takes place, the temperature of the solution dur- F rm y resin, p White p per and ing the standing period being kept below 60 c. pi m ted pap ar a m a a v y x ensive, to inhibit premature formation of insoluble comso however, and the mechanical strength of sheets pounds, made of paper impregn ed with formal ehyde- The addition reaction which takes place in urea resin is not as great as that of the best the solution results in the formation of methylol grade of Dressed Wood Sheets the est grade ureas, principally monomethylol and dimethylol of sheets, m d o b i p a with phenolic ureas (the higher the molecular ratio of formalresins. deh'yde to urea, the greater the proportion of ,AttemDt h been made to p v t pdimethylol): The time required for the reac- P board made of fi e mpregnated with tion depends upon the temperature at which the phenolic resins, by incorporating thereon surface solution is maintained. At the end of the reacsheets of white or pigmented pap r impr ed tion the condition of the solution is that of a 40 with formaldehyde-urea resins, but such attempts thin syrup.

have not resulted in wh l y acceptable products Cellulose, preferably in the form of paperor for the reason that the dark phenolic lmpr pulp, is then stirred with the solutionuntil thornated body is liable to show through the fOrmB-iough and uniform absorption of the solution by dehyde urealmpr e a e Skin unequally,and g the cellulose is attained, the cellulose being the panels a blotched appearance, and for the shredded either before or during the stirring opfurther reason that evenly pigmented paper is eration. The acidity of the mass may be innot readily available. creased somewhat for the stirring operation to Panels made by incorporating surface sheets of promote the next stage of reaction, during which formaldehyde-urea impregnated aper with comthe methylol ureas condense with the splitting 5o posite board whose principal body is made of fiber oil of water. impregnated with phenolic or natural resins also In the process of our invention, the condensahave a tendency to warpage. Great care must be tion takes place in a drier, in which the wet used in the manufacture of such board to avoid mass is placed after stirring. The temperature a during the drying isprogressively increased but is not permitted to exceed 100* C., and the drying is continued until the moisture content of the mass isreduced to less than 10%. Evaporation of water during the drying is facilitated by the spread of the solution over the immense area of the cellulose fibers, and the cellulose, in addition, appears to have a catalytic effect that promotes the elimination of chemically combined water by condensation.

After the drying, the cellulose with its loading of molecularly distributed condensate is placed in a ball mill and ground to a very fine powder. During the grinding, pigments, opacity-increasing materials such as titanium oxide, hot plate lubricants and conditioners such as accelerators or retarders may be added and ground into intimate mixture with the impregnated cellulose particles. The nature and quantity of the pigments and other conditioning materials added will depend upon the type of article with which the material is to be finally incorporated and upon the appearance and surface characteristics that it is desired to produce. Particl'esof bright .metal may be scattered through the mass, to produce scintillating specks in the surface sheet. The amount of cellulose employed can be varied from onethird to twice the amount of resin, but powders containing from 40% to 50% of cellulose have been found to give excellent results.

In the application of the compound to the body for which it is to form the surface layer, it is first placed in about three parts of water to one part of' powder, and suspension and uniform distribution of the solid particles in the liquid vehicle is attained by stirring or grinding the powder and water together in a ball mill, the temperature of the water being kept low enough so that there is little or no dissolving of the con.- densate. If desired the addition of pigment, instead of being made during the dry grinding, may be deferred until the-powder is ground with the water.

Where rapid drying is required, liquid vehicles more volatile than water may be employed. The vehicle should be a liquid in which the condensate is insoluble or only slightly soluble. Examples of such liquids are volatile hydrocarbons, benzine, and methyl and ethyl ethers.

The thin batter which results from grinding the powder and water together is sprayed upon the body for which it is to form the surface layer, after which it is again dried. The dried coating composition may have a rough or even pimply appearance, but because of the small size of the cellulose particles and their complete immersion in the potential resin, they are capable of flowing into a surface coating that is perfectly smooth and flawless.

The final formation and hardening of the surface layer of our invention is caused to take place under heat and pressure. Upon application of a hot plate to the sprayed and dried composition it first softens into a homogeneous mass, fiowing into the interstices of the fibrous body to which it is applied and acquiring a surface with the characteristics of the surface of the hot plate that is pressed upon it, and it then hardens by polymerization, becoming infusible, insoluble in ordinary solvents, resistant to the action of light and moisture, and chemically inactive. If the plate by which it is pressed is highly polished, the surface layer of our invention will likewise be highly polished. Any cracks that may have existed in the body to which it is applied will be sealed, and all imperfections will be concealed.

' material resin.

dation like the surfaces of articles molded from formaldehyde urea resins. Translucent coatings can be made in accordance with the invention to provide translucent panels when materials are employed for the body portion of the panels that are capable of giving translucent products.

The surface layer of our invention may be hot pressed upon boards or articles which are neither thermoplastic nor thermosetting, or which are so slightly thermoplastic as not to be greatly aflfect'ed byv the heat and pressure employed in forming our surface coating, or our surface coating may be applied to boards or articles of thermoplastic or thermosetting materials, particularly laminated boards, as they are formed under heat and pressure. In such case, the fiow properties of the material from which the body of the article is formed and the flow properties of the composition of our surface layer should be such that the heat and pressure required to form the body are'approximately the same as that required to form and set our surface layer. Means for adjusting fiow properties of thermoplastic and thermosetting compositions are known in the art, and the fiow properties and curing time of the composition of our surface layer may be adjustedby varying the proportion of cellulose to resin and by the use of plasticizers, accelerators and retarders such as are employed in conditioning urea-formaldehyde molding compositions.

. When the surface coating of our invention is to be applied to laminated board made of layers of paper impregnated with heat hardening resin, sheets of the impregnated paper are sprayed on one side with our water or non-solvent liquid suspension of fine powder. The sprayed sheets are then dried fiat, and when the other sheets of impregnated paper are arranged in piles to be pressed into laminated board, one of the sheets upon which our composition has been sprayed and dried is placed at the bottom of the pile with the sprayed surface down and another placed on top of the pile with the sprayed surface up. The pile of sheets is then hot pressed in the same manner as in the usual laminating process, the heat and pressure used depending on the fiow properties of the impregnating resin used in the body sheets and the flow properties of our coating composition, and the time during which heatand pressure are applied depending upon the curing properties. It is often desirable in making laminated sheets to cool the pressure plates before relieving the pressure, so that the sheets may be taken from the press stiff and fiat.

In pressboard thus made, the bond between the surface layer and the body of the material is superior even to the bond between the body sheets, since the composition employed in the surface layer penetrates into the fibers of the adjacent body material and amalgamates with the body There is no liability that the surface layer ,will separate from the body by splitting oil or peeling. The cellulose content of the surface layer material not only has a bene- 75 ficial function during the condensation stage of the reaction, but it also gives to the finished surface coating qualities which prevent it from chipping and crazing as do pure urea-formaldehyde resinous bodies and those containing minerals and other non-cellulosic fillers. The surface layer of our invention possesses the virtues of surface sheets made by impregnating sheets of paper with urea-formaldehyde resin, without their defects and disadvantages, and the surface layer of our invention is much more economical to make and apply.

Where the characteristics of urea-formalde hyde resins are not required, the fibrous particles may be impregnated with other resins such, for example, as phenolic resin's. The impregnated fiber may be paper pulp, wood fiour or other cellulosic material. In any case it is finely ground and placed in suspension in water or some other volatile liquid that does not remove the resin from the fiber by dissolving it.

The powder that is mixed with the water or other liquid, while preferably fine, is by no means of colloidal fineness. In fact it may be as coarse as ordinary granulated sugar, if the batter is stirred frequently to counteract the separating action of gravity, as the particles do not coat in the manner of a paint or varnish but flow under the heat and pressure to which they are subjected and then harden in a manner analogous to the manner in which'a molding composition flows and hardens in a heated pressure mold. The process and intermediate and final products are different, however, from processes in which molding compositions areplaced in molds with solid inserts'and molded about them.

The embodiment of our invention herein shown and described is to be regarded as illustrative only, and it is to be understood that the invention is susceptible to variation, modification and change within the spirit and scope of the subjoined claims.

Having described our invention, we claim:

1. In a method of coating a surface that comprises preparing a finely divided mixture including cellulose particles impregnated with a thermosetting substance, suspending said mixture in a volatile non-solvent liquid vehicle, substantially all of the thermosetting substance in the resulting suspension being-undissolved, applying said suspension to said surface by spraying, and finishing the resulting coating by hot-pressing.

2. In a. method of coating a surface that comprises preparing a finely divided mixture including cellulose particles impregnated with a thermosetting substance, suspending said mixture in water, substantially all of the thermosetting substance in the resulting suspension being undissolved, applying said suspension to said surface by spraying, drying the resulting coating, and finishing the coating by hot-pressing.

3. In a method of coating a surface that come prises preparing a finely divided mixture including two parts of cellulose particles impregnated with one to six parts of a thermosetting formaldehyde-urea composition, suspending said mixture in a volatile non-solvent liquid vehicle, substantially all of the formaldehyde-urea composition in the resulting suspension being undissolved, applying said suspension to said surface by spraying, and finishing the resulting coating by hot-pressing.

4. An article adapted to be finished by hotpressing including suitable body material, and a dry, continuous adherent surface layer that has been formed by preparing a finely divided mixture including cellulose particles impregnated with a thermosetting substance, suspending said mixture in water to form a composition in which substantially all of the thermosetting substance is 'undissolved, and applying said composition to said body material by spraying, substantially all of the thermosetting substance in said layer being insoluble in cold water, and said layer being capable 'of formation by heat and pressure into a substantially flawless coating.

ARTHUR M. HOWALD. LEONARD S. MEYER. 

